Love Me Twice
by Metallic Mist
Summary: 'He turned around and walked back to the waiting room, where a TV played silently in one corner and the bland walls and the tableful of torn magazines suddenly became more appealing.' Tasha loses all her memories of Vivek after she is shot. But Vivek isn't ready to let go of the girl he loves so easily, and he'll go to the ends of the world to make her remember.
1. Maybe

A/n: A wonderful young lady ones told me to do what made me happy. So, I'm writing a vivesha! Now, as ironic as it sounds, I usually find solace in sad, depressing stories , so I write sad stuff. And so, this is NOT HAPPY. Yes, it contains some happy moments, but the overall story is depressing. So if you're looking for something cheesier than pizza hut's Magic Pan, or something as fluffy as cotton candy, this is not for you. However if you are reading this because you love me, or simply because you can't find anything else, carry on. ;)

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**|| Love Me Twice ||**

He stared down at his hands, twisting and knotting them as if doing so would hold back the turmoil inside him. Despair roamed the room, expelled on the breath of worriers like him and those doing their best to bite down on the pain that brought them here. From the corner of his eye he saw a doctor run down the hall, the papers on her clipboard rattling loudly, her high ponytail swishing from side to side.

Her ponytail suddenly reminded him of Tasha, and once again he felt the mist settle in his eyes.

"_Tasha, seriously stop it. Your hair is making me sneeze!"_

"_Well, it's not my fault that you're jogging so close to me. Scientifically, my hair will move. I can't do anything if you happen to be close enough for it to smack you in the face. So shut up and jog."_

"_Scientific?" Vivek said, not bothering to mask the amusement in his voice. "Do you really have a scientific explanation for this?"_

"_Of course. __Compare the ponytail to a pendulum. If you look at both a stiff pendulum and a more flexible string, of more than 10 inches, bounce it up and down, and do some math, it turns out that the motions of both the pendulum and the string satisfy the Hill equation, which refers to oscillations in a solution. Air still counts as a solution. And when you work out the math, the Hill equation predicts that the natural frequency of the pendulum or the ponytail will grow over time, causing the ponytail to swing from side to side even though the head is only going up and down."_

"_What the…"_

He smiled at the memory. "Hill equation." Vivek mumbled to himself. Only the thought of her made his insides churn, it filled him with desperation to see her. He stood up and walked over to it ICU, stumbling occasionally, and ignoring the blank stares of the team. To Vivek, the short walk from the waiting room to the operation theater seemed to take forever, but he managed to drag himself in front of the doors to the room.

From the little window like frame of the door, he managed to get a glimpse of Tasha. Her skin looked like porcelain. It was very pale and white, compared to her rather bright complexion. Doctors swarmed her bed, bees serving their queen, racing to bring her back from the dead.

He assumed that she was peaceful, sleeping and hopefully thinking about him, and the thought made him feel less alone through the tears ripping at his throat. He turned around and walked back to the waiting room, where a TV played silently in one corner and the bland walls and the tableful of torn magazines suddenly became more appealing.

* * *

His team fixed him with the same blank stare again as he returned and sat down in the beat-up chair and took a deep breath. The air smelled of antiseptic and hairspray, and apart from the nearby whimpering of a small boy and the uneven breathing of the team, the atmosphere stayed rather eerily silent. Vivek realized he was tired. Dead beat, actually. And even though his brain was yelling at him to close his eyes, he couldn't quite bring himself to do that. His mind kept drifting off to Tasha. But he eventually did, and not seconds later, they were snapped open, as the doctor came barging into the room.

He couldn't quite understand the look on her face. She looked like she was starving in a forest when she had caught a deer, but had let it go the next minute.

"Sir… officer Tasha…" the doctor started, but she couldn't bring herself to complete the sentence. Vivek felt like grabbing her shoulders and shaking her so hard until she spoke, but he didn't have to do that, for she finally continued.

"Sir, she's out of dander now, but…"

"But? But what doctor?" ACP Pradhuman asked. His voice was dangerous, but Vivek noticed that it quivered slightly.

"Sir, we removed the bullet but… she's in coma"

Vivek felt like the doctor had ripped his heart out of his chest and cut it into a million tiny pieces. He felt like yelling at the doctor, but the more sensible part of his brain told him that that would be of no use. It wasn't her fault anyways. But he couldn't control the turmoil inside him. He could feel his knees give away as the doctor spoke, and he collapsed onto a nearby chair.

Everything after that became a haze, and he could faintly make out Freddy's arm on his shoulder. He barely heard him mumble comforting words into his ear, because he remembered only what the doctor said. It kept repeating over and over in his head, and even though a small part of his brain still had hope, he thought he was going to lose her forever.

He could feel Freddy try to lift him to follow the others into Tasha's room. Shakily he stood up and walked to the doors of the ICU, but he couldn't bring himself to enter the room. Instead, he turned around and gloomily walked over to the place where he had been sitting, and fell onto the chair with a thud. From the corner of his eye, he could see Freddy walk over to him and sit down in the chair beside him.

Very slowly, as if it pained him to do so, he craned his neck to the side and pinned the older officer with a look. It was mixed with disbelief and anger, but most of all guilt and grief. Freddy seemed to understand and just nodded reassuringly.

The two of them sat there for a while until Freddy asked, "Today has been quiet a day, I guess?" Vivek just snorted sadly at the comment. He had known Freddy for six years, and it still surprised him to this day that Freddy seemed to know exactly how he was feeling or what he was thinking. They were like twin brothers, only with the age difference. It was so surprising that it was scary sometimes.

Then there was Tasha. Vivek sighed at the thought of her. Tasha was a whole different story. While Freddy was like an older brother to him, Tasha had always been something different. She was always his best friend, and the truth was that he had fallen for his best friend. He had fallen too fast, too far and too deep for the brown eyed girl. The same best friend who laid on a hospital bed, in coma, the very same friend he couldn't bring himself to see in that state.

Vivek took a deep breath and looked around the waiting room. Maybe he would wait here for a little longer and try to muster some courage to see her like that. Maybe that or maybe his heart would clench and his stomach would turn again and he wouldn't be able to see her. _Maybe._

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A/n: Thank you to Poesia-Raro, for going over this for me. And my friends and I have come up with this one week in a year, where you thank everyone that has done something for you, or anyone that means a lot to you. So I would like to take this moment to thank all my readers for putting up with my rubbish and to all the writers here for being so freaking amazing. But, for being my inspiration ever since I came to FanFiction. Net, for being so supportive and for being like my older sisters and for being my best friends, Originald143 and Poesia-Raro, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are truly AMAZING. I LOVE YOU! :)


	2. Tomorrow

She cautiously climbed the stone steps to her house as she held a bag in one hand and a couple of files in another. She had to be very careful. She wasn't very sure that he had gone back to wherever he came from just yet. Even though Abhijeet had thought that he was cute, she hated the thing with great passion. Tarika always had a dislike for frogs and their species and why Abhijeet had been so thoughtful and bought her a toad for her birthday was just beyond her. But she wouldn't have a toad jumping up and down her whole house. That was preposterous.

Tarika fumbled with her keys as she reached the main door. She really hoped that the jingling noise would not attract the toad to the door. She couldn't have that thing jump on her the minute she entered her house. Yes, she understood a pet's affection towards its master, but she wasn't sure she could tolerate it jumping on her favorite shirt.

She carefully opened the door and stepped inside and was quite pleased when she saw no sign of the toad's cage… or the toad, for that matter. "I hope the cat ate it." She murmured with disgust. But she knew that her neighbor had picked it up. Sheryl Patel was a zookeeper, and was pleased when Tarika had 'donated' her toad to the zoo. Why would the zoo need a toad, Tarika would never know. She hoped that Sheryl was going to skin it and feed it to the tiger. But she didn't think the tiger would eat it. Unless the tiger was Thai, that is.

Tarika looked around her house and sighed in relief. Now that Slime-ball was gone, (Tarika had named the toad Slime-ball, due to obvious reasons) she could have a nice peaceful shower. Shrugging her overcoat on the couch, she walked up the stairs to her bedroom. Tarika decided she needed a bath after this long, troublesome day. She filled the large bathtub with hot water and a lavender bubble bath. She remembered reading that lavender helped you sleep, and she desperately wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep.

She grabbed her book off the nightstand and slipped her clothes off. When she climbed into the bathtub she hissed in pleasure. The water was bordering on hot but she preferred it that way. She liked her water so hot it made her skin red. Tarika laid her head against the back on the tub. She thought about reaching for her book but she was too comfortable. She didn't want to think about what happened today but her mind kept going back to Tasha.

She and Tasha had been really good friends, even though Tarika preferred to keep to herself. Tarika couldn't remember one thing about her that Tasha didn't know. She didn't really believe in the term '_best friend'_, but Tasha was the only person she felt comfortable to have a girl talk with. Tarika didn't know why, but Tasha was different. She wasn't like the rest, and maybe that was the reason that Tarika felt so comfortable around her. Tarika sighed. By this point the water had started turning cold. She pulled the drain on the tub and then heaved herself out. She wrapped herself in a towel after she dried off and then went out into her bedroom.

She opened her closet and pulled out a pair of grey plaid shorts, and a loose, plain green t-shirt. She put on the clothes and pulled her hair into a high pony tail. Even after the hot bath, she wasn't very sleepy. '_Screw you Lavender'_she thought. She grabbed her book from the bathroom and headed downstairs for a midnight snack and some reading.

As she headed to the kitchen, Tarika threw the book on the couch, and for the first time in many years, she wasn't bothered about the condition of her book. She emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later, with a bowlful of popcorn and sat down on the couch. Precisely three and a half seconds later she realized that she had sat on the book. Groaning, Tarika got up and snatched the book off the cough and sat back don with a soft thud. She opened the copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ to where she had left it and started reading.

Not ten minutes after she had started reading, her doorbell rang, a shrill and loud sound that irritated her ear. "Argh! I hate you" she bit out sharply at the door, but got up nonetheless and made her way over to the door. The floor boards creaked under her feet as she walked, and just then she noticed the chipped plaster on the walls. '_This house definitely needs renovating'._ Tarika thought.

Tarika wearily opened the door. She wasn't sure whether someone was supposed to be at her house at twelve o' clock at night. She distantly hoped that it wasn't Sheryl coming to return Slime-ball. But it wasn't. It was Rajat. He smiled warily at Tarika. He didn't really know how Tarika would take this surprise visit, but was relieved when Tarika smiled warmly at him.

"Hey you. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" she asked him.

"Nothing. Just came to talk to you. Figured you could do with some help."

"Help?" Tarika asked as she opened the door wider and motioned for him to enter. "What do I need help with?" Tarika followed him into her living room. But Rajat just gave her a pointed look and then looked away. She looked at him with a confused look, but then she too looked away when she realized that he wasn't going to say anything.

The two of them sat there in an odd silence for a while until he finally decided to speak. "Happy anniversary, Tarika." Rajat whispered. He was so soft that she hardly heard him. She gave him an unbelieving look.

"Are you serious Rajat? That's what you came here for? To wish me 'Happy anniversary'?"

"Well, no. But in a way, yes" Rajat murmured.

"You do realize that you make absolutely no sense right?"

"Look, Tarika, I just felt that there was something you weren't telling me and I thought something was wrong. I figured you might want to talk about it," said Rajat. He looked worried, but there was a glimmer of determination in his eyes. Tarika felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. She looked down as if her cracked and noisy floorboards were the most important thing in the world.

"Tarika," Rajat stopped for a second as if he was thinking if it was an appropriate thing to say. "Are you happy?" he asked.

"Why do you hate him, Rajat?" Tarika asked in a small voice, as she moved towards the couch and sat down.

Rajat too, took a seat beside her. "I don't hate him, Tarika. But I don't like him either. I respect him as a senior officer, and I'm sure he's a good guy, but at the same time I need to be sure that you are happy with him. And from what I can see I don't think you are. Tell me what's wrong, Tarika. Please."

Tarika sighed and leaned her head on Rajat's shoulder and it felt oddly comfortable. "I am happy Rajat. It's just that I'm not sure. You know Rajat when you see a guy you think is charming, funny, kind, fun, understanding. You think he is perfect. But then you find out that he is taken by some girl you don't know, but you already hate. And that's my problem. They hate me just because I'm Abhijeet's girlfriend. Just because they think that no girl is suitable for him. But that's not true. I can't help it if I fell in love with their 'Mr. Perfect' and he happened to reciprocate my feelings. It's not my bloody fault, but they just don't get that!" By this time her head was off Rajat's shoulder. "And that's why I broke it off with him. I can't stand it! You know the girls were fine, I could tolerate that! But his ego is just too much to take. I love him Rajat. I really do. And I'm sure he feels the same way. I know he loves me too. But he just needs to get off his high horse." Tears were streaming down her face and she was standing. Rajat stood up too and wordlessly he pulled her into a tight embrace.

Tarika sobbed openly onto his shoulder as he patted her hair comfortingly. Tarika felt safe. She always did with Rajat. His arms felt comfortingly warm around her, and Tarika knew that as long as she had Rajat she had nothing to worry about. Tarika stayed like that for a while after she had calmed down before she pulled out of the embrace. "I'm sorry I got a bit—"

"Oh, hush, Tarika!" Rajat cut her off. "Anytime you need someone, you know where to find me" he said and he patted her cheek. Tarika smiled and nodded. "Thank you Rajat. I really needed to get that out and—" she stopped at the annoyed look Rajat threw her. "How about some tea?" she asked quickly, not wanting to get her companion get started on his 'don't-you-dare-say-thank you' speech.

Rajat looked at her funny. "Tarika it's twelve-thirty in the morning."

"Oh, yeah…." She said awkwardly.

"But I think some Oreo milkshake would be great!" he said. Tarika stared at him and then suddenly the both of them started laughing. Rajat followed Tarika into the kitchen and silently watched as she got all the ingredients. He watched, amused, as she struggled to get the packet of Oreos from the top shelf of the kitchen. He went behind her and reached out and easily got the packet. Rajat placed it on the counter and returned to his spot by the stove again.

"Rajat how's Tasha?" Tarika asked suddenly.

Rajat looked at her and then returned his gaze to the coffee maker. "No progress. She's still in a coma."

Tarika sighed. "I wonder how Vivek is coping with all of this." She said.

"He's doing all right. Better than I expected anyways. Didn't go into her room for a whole week. But now he goes there every day. Stays for two hours. Sometimes three. Keeps talking to her. But he's hurt. We all know that."

"Yes," said Tarika dejectedly. "He loved her. Still does. He'll break if Tasha doesn't wake up."

"Yeah they do have a thing. Everyone can see it. Everyone but them."

"I'm going to see her tomorrow." said Tarika

"Oh."

Rajat and Tarika stood by the kitchen counter. Rajat was staring at the coffee pot now, but he wasn't seeing it. He was staring at nothing and Tarika seemed to be in deep thought. "You know what Tarika? Forget about the milkshake. Too late for it anyway." Rajat said. "I'll go home now. We've both got a long day ahead of us." He walked out of the kitchen and Tarika followed. He opened the door, stepped out and faced Tarika. "I'll see you tomorrow, mugglemuffin." Tarika smiled slightly at the nickname before she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good night Rajat."

Rajat nodded and walked away down the street.

Tarika waited until he had disappeared into the darkness and then closed the door behind her. She sighed. Tomorrow she would go see Tasha.

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A/n: So there it was folks, the second chapter of Love Me Twice. So tell me, how many of you thought Rajat and Tarika were a couple when he said happy anniversary? And how many of you cursed me for it? Be honest. I know you are kind of confused with the sudden Tarika thing, but believe me when say , I know what I'm doing. Also thank you PR, for going over this for me. :)

And, the next chapter will take time because of my exams/ class tests ( yeah, life is being mean). So, Ta-ta until then! :)

Cheers!

- Metallic Mist


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